40-year-old Yoel Romero ready to make history with interim title win at UFC 213

LOS ANGELES – Yoel Romero believes the UFC interim middleweight title will be his at UFC 213 as long as he stays smart against Robert Whittaker.

From Romero’s (12-1 MMA, 8-0 UFC) perspective, keeping focus and discipline are the biggest keys to octagon success. He said today during UFC International Fight Week Media Day that Ronaldo Souza failed to do that against Whittaker (18-4 MMA, 9-2 UFC) during their April fight, and as long as Romero doesn’t make the same mistakes against “The Reaper,” he expects to leave UFC 213 with gold.

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“One of them knew how to do his job well and the other one obviously did not know how to do it,” Romero told MMAjunkie of the Whittaker-Souza fight through an interpreter. “The first thing is not to lose your focus, not to forget your dreams; to follow your strategy. The strategy that you’ve set out, follow it step-by-step.”

UFC 213 takes place July 8 at T-Mobile Arena in Las Vegas. Romero vs. Whittaker co-headlines the pay-per-view main card following prelims on FS1 and UFC Fight Pass.

Romero, who is riding the longest active UFC winning streak in the middleweight division at eight, was originally targeting a title showdown with current champ Michael Bisping following his knockout of Chris Weidman at UFC 205 last November. However, “The Count” is currently dealing with a knee injury, and could potentially have his on-again, off-again fight with Georges St-Pierre.

That left the UFC to put together a fight between Romero, No. 2 in the latest USA TODAY Sports/MMAjunkie MMA middleweight rankings, to fight No. 4-ranked Whittaker, who has a seven-fight winning streak.

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No one in the UFC has been able to beat Romero or Whittaker in a middleweight fight, and in order for “The Solider of God” to avoid suffering the first blemish, he said he has to approach the fight with respect and caution.

“All opponents are dangerous,” Romero said. “All opponents have two arms and they have great matter to be able to think, and they have talent. The other thing is that I think you should always be careful when you’re fighting and be respectful of your opponent. He’s a young fighter, he’s hungry. These things always make your opponent dangerous.”

If Romero is able to come out on top at UFC 213, he would join Randy Couture as the only fighters in UFC history to win a championship at age 40 or older. Age clearly isn’t hindering Romero, though, because he seemingly gets better with each fight.

He listed several keys to his success and believes if he continues to follow them, the victory will be his at UFC 213.

“The first thing I feel I am a man who has been blessed by God,” Romero said. “Second, the discipline that I follow, the rigorous training that I follow myself. The third point is that I’m smart, I’m intelligent. When I pick my fights I’m going to do my training.”